Branner Blog

Sunday touchdown: Phoenix Mars Mission Lander

julie — Fri, 23 May 2008 20:38:28 +0000

The newest mechanical visitor to Mars, the Phoenix Mars Lander, descends through the atmosphere on Sunday to land in the Martian Arctic. Dubbed the first of the “Scout Missions,” the lander will provide information that may answer questions such as: Can the Martian arctic support life, what is the history of water at the landing site, and how is the Martian climate affected by polar dynamics?

You can read more about the mission at the main project Web page. Local Bay Area events include:

* Mars: Fire & Ice at the The Crucible in Oakland. Live feed of the landing from NASA.
* Chabot Space and Science Center, Oakland will host activities on Saturday and Sunday including a live feed of the event on Sunday afternoon.
* NASA Ames Research Center, Mountain View, will host a Sunday afternoon event with robotic demonstrations and pre-landing remarks from local scientists and engineers.

You can also watch the landing over the Internet by tuning into NASA tv at http://www.nasa.gov/ntv.

Urban & Environmental Modeler’s Datakit

julie — Fri, 23 May 2008 00:29:46 +0000

The Urban & Environmental Footprint 2050 Project at the Institute of Urban and Regional Development (IURD) at UC, Berkeley have constructed a GIS toolkit consisting of a series of ESRI shapefiles and grids describing, “many of the physical, administrative, transportation, demographic, economic, land use and land cover, and environmental characteristics of the 48 contiguous United States.” The data were pulled together by the Penn Institute for Urban Research and and the IURD. Layers include boundary files, census block files and attributes, transportation networks, major employment center information, measures of job accessibility, boundaries of federal lands, elevation and slope data, location of water bodies, and location of wetlands. The data are free and can be used for any purpose with attribution. A great new, free resource!

Yosemite Display at Branner

sam — Thu, 15 May 2008 19:25:20 +0000

Just in time for your next field trip, come see our new display about Yosemite National Park.

Yosemite National Park, California. Cathedral Peak, viewed from Cathedral Pass, showing cut terrace. 1908. G.K. Gilbert. [via] USGS.

Visit us in person, or go to Branner’s Library Thing for a full list of books and maps on display.

We have additional copies of many of the display items available for you to take with you on your next Yosemite excursion.

Myanmar cyclone

sam — Tue, 06 May 2008 18:42:03 +0000

Google Earth layer of Myanmar cyclone data
via
dotearth

National Dialogue on Access to Environmental Information

sam — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 20:29:42 +0000

The EPA has launched the “National Dialogue on Access to Environmental Information.” They are interested in obtaining your views on how to improve access to environmental information. Your input will help EPA develop a strategy to provide better access and delivery to environmental information. They would like to know the following:

* What you’re looking for
* How you use the information you find
* The words you use when you search for environmental information
* How you like to get your information (formats, styles, etc., as well as email vs. text vs. maps, etc.)
* Who you are (categories, not necessarily your name)

You can comment privately, or post on the public forum. Check out what other people are saying too.

The commenting period is open until the end of June.

What do you think about scientist-bloggers?

sam — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 16:20:22 +0000

Read this point-counterpoint on science blogging in the latest issue of Nature Geoscience*, and let us know what you think.

To Blog or Not to Blog by Gavin Schmidt

Minority Report by Myles Allen

*available to Stanford readers via Branner Library.

Antarctic sea ice

sam — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 23:11:38 +0000

Watch the NewsHour tonight to hear Professor Stephen Schneider discuss what the loss of Antarctic sea ice may indicate about Earth’s warming. From NewsHour:

A major chunk of ice has fallen off the Antarctic peninsula, threatening the Wilkins ice shelf behind it. Scientists say the collapse shows how quickly changes can occur at the poles when a critical point is reached.

Listen to the report to hear Professor Schneider’s interview and for more information, come to the library and see our display dedicated to the research and history of the International Polar Year.

Question from afar: My copy of a 1903 book by Anderson and Flett is missing the plates. Can you help?

sam — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 00:34:08 +0000

The key here is 1903. Many of our pre-1923 titles have been scanned by Google and can be found in their entirety through Google Books. This questioner was in luck; the desired volume, “Report on the Eruptions of the Soufriere, in St. Vincent, in 1902…” is available, along with incredible plates like this one of Soufriere’s crater.

What is the structure of the hidden earth?

sam — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 23:30:33 +0000

You won’t find this on YouTube:

The Hidden Earth is one of many films made available by the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado.

The films presented were produced after the International Geophysical Year (IGY) in 1957-58 by the National Academy of Sciences. They use footage taken during the IGY field research, and “each film focuses on one of the thirteen research themes of IGY.”

See the National Academy of Sciences’ site for more examples of their IGY-related educational outreach efforts.

For your viewing pleasure: Our Changing Planet

sam — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 22:55:49 +0000

Our Changing Planet is a public television series focusing on planet Earth. All episodes are written and produced by the Upper Midwest Aerospace Consortium (UMAP). The series features 90-second episodes “whose purpose is to enhance public understanding of the global environment and the changes it is undergoing.”

See the episode menu for details. Topics include atmospheric changes, earth effects, ecosystem impacts, human impact, land use, water and sea level.

via EOS, Vol. 98, No. 4, p. 30.